Disturbances Of The Holocene Lake-Bog Sediment Succession As Revealed By Pollen Record From Wietrzychowice (Southeastern Kujawy, Central Poland)

Abstract Results of geological and pollen investigations of the lake-bog sediments from the section Wietrzychowice W5, located nearby the Neolithic Funnel Beaker Culture (FBC) megaliths, are presented. The pollen data reveal that sedimentation at Wietrzychowice has begun at the beginning of the Holocene (Preboreal). Pollen analysis was used to determine stratigraphy with regard to sediment characteristics. The pollen spectrum was divided into 8 LPAZes (1-7Xa, 7Xb) which were also, where possible, stratigraphically classified. Radiocarbon dating of 6 730 ± 90 BP (5 730–5 480 BC, MKL-702) at depth of 1.20 m confirmed the pollen analysis age estimation. Five settlement episodes were found in organic sediments in the upper part of the W5 core. The first was presumably during the Preboreal, the second in the early Atlantic, the third in the late Atlantic (probably Neolithic FBC), the fourth in the early Middle Ages and the last one in the late Middle Ages. The pollen analysis was useful to point irregularities in sediment succession. Such a situation made palaeoenvironmental interpretation difficult, but further research is still needed to enable an accurate reconstruction.

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Maximum Holocene groundwater levels and associated extension of peat in the border zone of ‘Het Gooi’ (the Netherlands): a reconstruction based on the study of soil transects

Netherlands Journal of Geosciences – Geologie en Mijnbouw ◽

10.1017/njg.2020.7 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 99 ◽

Author(s):

Jan Sevink ◽

Sander Koopman

Keyword(s):

Hydraulic Conductivity ◽

Sea Level ◽

Middle Ages ◽

Groundwater Level ◽

Soil Characteristics ◽

Border Zone ◽

Maximum Extension ◽

The Holocene ◽

Late Middle Ages ◽

Ridge System

Abstract The area ‘Het Gooi’ in the Netherlands is part of a Pleistocene ice-pushed ridge system that partially drowned during the Holocene upon sea level and associated groundwater rise. As a result, the ridge system was gradually encroached by peat. From the late Middle Ages onward, man reclaimed the peatlands surrounding Het Gooi, heavily reducing their extension and lowering the regional groundwater level by increasingly intensive drainage. Based on historical and archaeological arguments, several authors assume that the Holocene peat cover in the border zones of ‘Het Gooi’ formed the extension of large raised peat bogs that formed further to the west and east, respectively. They presume that in the late Middle Ages these extensions reached ‘upslope’ to a maximum altitude of 3 m + NAP (Dutch Ordnance Datum – approximating mean sea level). However, the original extension is difficult to reconstruct, as this peat has disappeared as a result of its exploitation and oxidation, if having been present at all. In this study, the maximum extension of the Holocene peat cover on the ice-pushed ridge system was reconstructed based on soil characteristics. Used soil characteristics concerned the presence of iron coatings around sand grains and the upper boundary of gleyic features, because these are indicators for the mean highest groundwater level (MHG). For peat to form, this MHG needs to be at or just above the ground surface for most of the year. Based on study of a number of soil transects, we reconstructed to what maximum altitude peat encroachment may have occurred. This ‘maximum extension’ can alternatively be described as the maximum altitude of the bottom of the peat onlapping the ridge system. In the western border zone, this peat cover was found to have reached to c. NAP or just above, near Hilversum. No indications were found for the occurrence of raised bogs. We conclude that the phreatic groundwater level in this zone was controlled by the sea level and associated lake levels (Naardermeer and Horstermeer), a dominant role being played by the shallow presence of Pleistocene formations with a high hydraulic conductivity. In the eastern border zone, altitudes were more variable and in places reached 2 m + NAP. Peat at this higher elevation probably formed under the influence of a higher phreatic groundwater level, induced by the presence of a clayey Eemian fill with low hydraulic conductivity in the adjacent glacial basin (the Eem valley). This study demonstrates the value of detailed soil transect studies for palaeogeographical reconstructions of the former Holocene peat cover in Pleistocene landscapes of NW Europe. It also provides independent data for validation of geohydrological models for such landscapes.

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The age and origin of the Gelderse IJssel

Netherlands Journal of Geosciences – Geologie en Mijnbouw ◽

10.1017/s0016774600023386 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 87 (4) ◽

pp. 323-337 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

B. Makaske ◽

G.J. Maas ◽

D.G. van Smeerdijk

Keyword(s):

Middle Ages ◽

Natural Process ◽

Lower Reach ◽

Radiocarbon Dates ◽

Archaeological Data ◽

The Third ◽

Late Middle Ages ◽

Considerable Debate ◽

Overbank Sedimentation ◽

Historical Accounts

AbstractThe Gelderse IJssel is the third major distributary of the Rhine in the Netherlands and diverts on average ~15% of the Rhine discharge northward. Historic trading cities are located on the Gelderse IJssel and flourished in the late Middle Ages. Little is known about this river in the early Middle Ages and before, and there is considerable debate on the age and origin of the Gelderse IJssel as a Rhine distributary. A small river draining the surrounding Pleistocene uplands must have been present in the IJssel valley during most of the Holocene, but very diverse opinions exist as to when this local river became connected to the Rhine system (and thereby to a vast hinterland), and whether this was human induced or a natural process. We collected new AMS radiocarbon evidence on the timing of beginning overbank sedimentation along the lower reach of the Gelderse IJssel. Our data indicate onset of overbank sedimentation at about 950 AD in this reach. We attribute this environmental change to the establishment of a connection between the precursor of the IJssel and the Rhine system by avulsion. Analysis of previous conventional radiocarbon dates from the upper IJssel floodplain yields that this avulsion may have started ~600 AD. Our results contradict earlier suppositions, based on interpretation of archaeological data and historical accounts, that the Gelderse IJssel is much older and originated as a canal, dug under supervision of the Roman general Drusus.

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Religion, Empire, and Law among Nations in The City of God

10.1093/oso/9780198805878.003.0004 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Mary M. Keys

Keyword(s):

Middle Ages ◽

City Of God ◽

The Third ◽

Legal Thought ◽

Late Middle Ages ◽

Magnum Opus ◽

Francisco De Vitoria ◽

The City

This chapter analyses the early Salamanca theologian-jurists’ turn to Augustine of Hippo’s analysis of religion, empire, and laws amongst nations in his magnum opus The City of God (De civitate dei). The first section surveys the import of and access to Augustine’s City of God in the late Middle Ages and Renaissance. The second section interprets and assesses Augustine’s place in the early Salamanca School, according special attention to the writings of Francisco de Vitoria, Melchior Cano, and Domingo de Soto. The third section continues Soto’s fruitful project of relectio, rereading The City of God afresh with a focus on Augustine’s commentaries on right (ius) and law (lex) among nations under Rome’s imperial sway. The chapter’s conclusion argues that rereading The City of God in this way deepens our awareness of Augustine’s alliance with the Salamanca School, even as it highlights a certain tension between Augustine’s legal thought and Vitoria’s.

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A 14,000-Year Pollen Record from Sithylemenkat Lake, North-Central Alaska

Quaternary Research ◽

10.1016/0033-5894(90)90065-s ◽

1990 ◽

Vol 33 (3) ◽

pp. 400-404 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

Patricia M. Anderson ◽

Richard E. Reanier ◽

Linda B. Brubaker

Keyword(s):

Boreal Forest ◽

Sediment Core ◽

Pollen Analysis ◽

Picea Glauca ◽

Pollen Record ◽

North Central ◽

The Holocene ◽

Unusual Combination ◽

Shrub Tundra ◽

History Of

AbstractPollen analysis of a 14,000-yr-old sediment core from Sithylemenkat Lake provides the first Holocene vegetational history for the Kanuti Flats of north-central Alaska. Basal samples contain a curious and unusual combination of tundra and boreal taxa. Pollen assemblages dating from 13,500 to 9000 yr B.P. are more typical of southern Brooks Range sites and indicate the presence ofBetulashrub tundra with increasedPopulusca. 10,000 to 9000 yr B.P.Picea glaucaappeared ca. 9000 yr B.P. andAlnusca. 8000 yr B.P.P. glaucapopulations declined between 7800 and 5000 yr B.P. with a subsequent reforestation byP. marianaandP. glauca. This pattern is seen at other sites in northeastern Alaska and suggests that the Holocene history of boreal forest is more complex than thought previously.

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Late Holocene channel pattern change from laterally stable to meandering caused by climate and land use changes

10.5194/esurf-2018-31 ◽

2018 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Jasper H. J. Candel ◽

Maarten G. Kleinhans ◽

Bart Makaske ◽

Wim Z. Hoek ◽

Cindy Quik ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Middle Ages ◽

Land Use Changes ◽

River Channel ◽

Osl Dating ◽

Meandering Rivers ◽

Channel Pattern ◽

The Holocene ◽

Late Middle Ages ◽

Bankfull Discharge

Abstract. River channel patterns may alter due to changes in hydrological regime, related to changes in climate or land cover. Such changes are well documented for transitions between meandering and braiding rivers, whereas channel pattern changes between laterally stable and meandering rivers are poorly documented and understood. We identified a river that was laterally almost stable throughout the Holocene until the Late Middle Ages, after which large meanders formed at lateral migration rates of about 2 m yr−1. The lateral stability before the Late Middle Ages was proven using a combination of coring information, ground-penetrating radar (GPR), radiocarbon (14C) dating, and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating. Our objective of this work is to identify the possible causes for the meander initiation. We carried out a unique reconstruction of bankfull discharge as a function of time, based on channel dimensions that were reconstructed from the scroll bar sequence using coring information and GPR data, combined with chronological constraints from historical maps and OSL dating. Empirical channel and bar pattern models were used to determine the potential for meandering and to identify the causes of meander initiation. Several potential causes were investigated, varying from discharge regime changes to increased sediment input. Our investigation shows that bankfull discharge was two to five times higher during the meandering phase compared to the laterally stable phase. This increase likely reflects climate changes related to the Little Ice Age and land use changes in the catchment, in particular as a result of peat reclamation and exploitation. We hypothesize that many low-energy meandering rivers were laterally stable during most of the Holocene, reflecting relatively low peak discharges during a stable climate and with limited human impact. However, channel deposits associated with such stable phases are poorly preserved, due to recent increase in dynamics of such systems. Considering the importance of climate and land use changes on the river channel pattern, successful river restoration requires an integral approach that includes scenarios of climate and land use changes in the catchment.

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Teleology in Jewish Philosophy

Teleology ◽

10.1093/oso/9780190845711.003.0008 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 123-149

Author(s):

Jeffrey K. McDonough

Keyword(s):

Early Modern ◽

Middle Ages ◽

Final Section ◽

Critical Reception ◽

Ancient Greek ◽

Critical Dialogue ◽

Philosophical Discourse ◽

The Third ◽

Late Middle Ages ◽

The World

Medieval and early modern Jewish philosophers developed their thinking in conversation with various bodies of literature. The influence of ancient Greek and Arabic sources was fundamental to the very constitution of medieval Jewish philosophical discourse. Toward the late Middle Ages, Jewish philosophers also established a critical dialogue with Christian Scholastics. In addition to these philosophical corpora, Jewish philosophers drew significantly upon rabbinic sources and the Hebrew Bible. In order to clarify the unique as well as shared elements in the thought of medieval Jewish philosophers, this chapter begins with a brief study of some early rabbinic sources on the purpose of the world. The second part of this chapter studies Maimonides’s critique of the veracity and usefulness of the belief in (anthropocentric) teleology, and the critical reception of his views by later philosophers. The third part addresses discussions of divine teleology in Kabbalistic literature. The fourth and final section elucidates Spinoza’s critique of teleology, its precise target and scope, and its debt to earlier sources discussed in this chapter.

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Late Holocene channel pattern change from laterally stable to meandering – a palaeohydrological reconstruction

Earth Surface Dynamics ◽

10.5194/esurf-6-723-2018 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 6 (3) ◽

pp. 723-741 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Jasper H. J. Candel ◽

Maarten G. Kleinhans ◽

Bart Makaske ◽

Wim Z. Hoek ◽

Cindy Quik ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Middle Ages ◽

Late Holocene ◽

Low Energy ◽

Osl Dating ◽

Meandering Rivers ◽

Channel Pattern ◽

The Holocene ◽

Late Middle Ages ◽

Bankfull Discharge ◽

Pattern Change

Abstract. River channel patterns may alter due to changes in hydrological regime related to changes in climate and/or land cover. Such changes are well documented for transitions between meandering and braiding rivers, whereas channel pattern changes between laterally stable and meandering rivers are poorly documented and understood. We hypothesize that many low-energy meandering rivers had relatively low peak discharges and were laterally stable during most of the Holocene, when climate was relatively stable and human impact was limited. Our objectives in this work are to identify a Late Holocene channel pattern change for the low-energy Overijsselse Vecht river, to develop and apply a novel methodology to reconstruct discharge as a function of time following a stochastic approach, and to relate this channel pattern change to reconstructed hydrological changes. We established that the Overijsselse Vecht was laterally virtually stable throughout the Holocene until the Late Middle Ages, after which large meanders formed at lateral migration rates of about 2 m yr−1. The lateral stability before the Late Middle Ages was constrained using a combination of coring information, ground-penetrating radar (GPR), radiocarbon (14C) dating, and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating. We quantified bankfull palaeodischarge as a function of time based on channel dimensions that were reconstructed from the scroll bar sequence and channel cut-offs using coring information and GPR data, combined with chronological constraints from historical maps and OSL dating. We found that the bankfull discharge was significantly greater during the meandering phase compared to the laterally stable phase. Empirical channel and bar pattern models showed that this increase can explain the channel pattern change. The bankfull discharge increase likely reflects climate changes related to the Little Ice Age and/or land use changes in the catchment, in particular as a result of peat reclamation and exploitation.

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